Tulsa Adventist Academy High School Challenge

TULSA, OKLA. – During the second week of school at Tulsa Adventist Academy (TAA), high school students traveled to eastern Missouri for an annual, tech-free event. The purpose is to inspire and equip students to step out of their comfort zones in the physical, mental, physical and spiritual spheres. Each year, the freshmen find out they are capable of more than they know.

This year, the first morning hike led to an overlook of the Scour Trail, the result of 1.3 billion gallons of water crashing through the Upper Taum Sauk Reservoir that breached in December 2005. When this happened, everything in the water’s path was stripped from the mountainside, which left a 1.5-mile stretch empty of trees, flowers and soil. Flooding down Proffitt Mountain, the entire reservoir emptied in 15 minutes. During an educational park event, a park ranger explained that had the park been open, hundreds of visitors would have been caught in the deluge.

Two afternoons were spent at the Black River. With its volcanic rock pools, this was an excellent respite to the heat. There were natural rockslides, too, and many boulders for climbing and scaling. 

When not hiking or swimming, students prepared and cleaned up meals, played ball games, studied the Bible, sang together and participated in a blind trust activity. In this trust exercise, students found a partner they trusted and placed adhesive eye covers over their eyes for several hours, while traveling, eating and hiking, they did every activity with a sighted partner guiding them. Then the partners traded positions. One of these activities happened at Johnsons Shut-Ins, and the other partner experienced being “blind” on the Braille Trail hike at nearby Elephant Rocks State Park. The students experienced fear, trust, fun and heightened senses. After the trust exercise was over, students clambered the giant boulders for a chance to touch the sky at Elephant Rocks.

Evening campfires were a highlight for students and staff alike and Bristow Seventh-day Adventist Church Pastor Andrew Spooner shared the simple joy of Jesus loving us and how much Jesus wants a relationship with us. On the last evening, students shared personal testimonies. One freshman recalled, “It was so amazing to hear people sharing their struggles.” 

As the camping expedition ended, students made their way to the Dickerson Park Zoo for the afternoon. They spent the weekend at the Nixa Seventh-day Adventist Church, where the students made many new friends. A church member who is a professional chef made breakfast both days. Students enjoyed a Sabbath school program with the local youth, then sang, played music, prayed and read scripture during the church service. That evening, Nixa’s youth program featured a speaker who challenged everyone to wait for a serious relationship until they were personally comfortable with the four F’s: faithfulness to God, financial wisdom, fitness and family plans.

Upon reflection, a sophomore remarked that “being able to attend this school and go on the trip has been the biggest blessing of my life.”

By Caroline A. Fisher
Development Director